1. Pathways For Women To Obtain Organizational Leadership
Research
Advisor:
Cindy
A
Schipani
Sally
Guimond
Abstract
Throughout
corporate
America
many
women
are
struggling
to
gain
access
into
top
organiza7onal
leadership
posi7ons
despite
the
fact
that
women
are
gradua7ng
from
secondary
schooling
ins7tu7ons
like
that
of
major
universi7es
and
colleges
at
a
higher
rate
than
their
male
counterparts.
Women
also
comprise
over
half
of
the
workforce
in
the
U.S.
today
and
account
for
only
around
14%
of
execu7ve
level
posi7ons
at
Fortune
500
companies.
This
invisible
barrier
preven7ng
women
from
reaching
posi7ons
of
organiza7onal
leadership
is
referred
to
as
the
Glass
Ceiling.
The
Glass
Ceiling
is
a
term
researchers
have
coined
in
order
to
describe
the
phenomenon
in
which
women
enter
the
workforce,
having
excellent
educa7on
backgrounds
and
the
skill
sets
needed
to
be
promoted
into
posi7ons
of
leadership,
yet
s7ll
climb
the
corporate
ladder
with
liKle
to
no
success
when
aiming
for
those
top
posi7ons.
Although
this
phenomenon
has
aKracted
a
growing
number
of
individuals
aKen7on
ranging
from
psychologists,
to
researchers
at
academic
ins7tu7ons,
as
well
as
law
and
government
officials,
a
suitable
course
of
ac7on
has
yet
to
be
put
into
place
to
facilitate
the
transforma7on
America’s
board
rooms
so
desperately
need.
This
study
however,
focuses
on
how
current
legal
ac7ons
and
policies
may
help
to
resolve
the
gender
inequality
issue
plaguing
a
large
por7on
of
America’s
top
grossing
organiza7ons.
An
analysis
of
the
broad
range
of
informa7on
concluded
that
both
European
quota
systems
and
the
United
States
affirma7ve
ac7on
laws
(the
laws
that
ensure
that
companies
do
not
discriminate
employment
on
the
basis
of
race,
na7onal
origin,
or
gender)
were
not
suitable
op7ons
for
correc7ng
the
problem,
but
rather
focusing
on
policies
that
aided
in
the
process
of
facilita7ng
women
with
formal
mentors
and
networking
connec7ons
held
the
answer.
This
in
depth
look
into
organiza7onal
policy
procedures,
as
well
as
how
males
achieved
organiza7onal
leadership
and
how
successful
women
did
as
well,
led
us
to
the
current
solu7on
of
mentoring
and
networking.
This
Study
is
part
of
a
growing
body
of
research
that
will
not
only
help
to
mi7gate
the
gender
inequality
issue
corporate
America
is
facing
today,
but
will
also
help
organiza7ons
realize
the
revenue
and
growth
opportuni7es
a
business
can
achieve
by
having
females
occupy
execu7ve
level
posi7ons
as
well
as
the
benefits
to
having
a
more
diverse
board
overrall.
Methods
The
underrepresenta7on
of
women
in
top
organiza7onal
leadership
posi7ons
is
a
rela7vely
recent
field
of
research
in
which
my
advisor
and
I
hope
to
add
valuable
informa7on
to.
Star7ng
with
an
overview
of
current
legal
problems
and
an
in
depth
look
into
possible
remedies
for
the
unequal
distribu7on
of
the
sexes
in
leadership
posi7ons,
it
was
ruled
out
that
the
issue
was
one
of
supply,
but
rather
one
of
inequality.
The
United
States
however,
is
not
the
only
country
facing
this
inequality
issue.
For
example
European
women
only
make
up
10%
of
company
board
posi7ons
and
on
a
global
scale
female
execu7ves
lead
fewer
than
one
in
ten
businesses
worldwide.
In
an
aKempt
to
highlight
which
factors
are
keeping
women
from
organiza7onal
leadership
posi7ons
the
study
analyzed
data
from
a
number
of
previously
executed
entrepreneurial
and
corporate
reports.
The
informa7on
collected
from
these
types
of
reports
allowed
us
to
understand
what
makes
males
[specifically
white
males]
so
successful
at
gaining
access
to
top
leadership
posi7ons
over
other
protected
groups
such
as
minori7es
and
women.
Although
the
majority
of
studies
focused
on
women
within
corporate
America
and
Europe,
the
informa7on
and
sta7s7cs
released
publicly
on
an
annual
basis
from
a
large
variety
of
companies
also
allowed
for
an
in
depth
look
at
the
percentage
differences
of
minori7es
as
well.
Besides
analyzing
data
to
support
the
idea
that
corporate
America
breeds
inequality
and
that
modern-­‐day
barriers
exist
for
women
aKemp7ng
to
break
into
leadership
posi7ons,
a
full
review
of
current
legal
op7ons
and
company
wide
policies
was
conducted.
United
States
affirma7ve
ac7on
policies
and
cases
were
used
to
judge
how
the
law
could
possibly
impact
businesses
to
make
a
change
to
a
more
diverse
direc7on.
The
European
Quota
system,
which
allowed
the
government
to
enforce
a
‘quota’
an
organiza7on
had
to
reach
for
the
number
of
female
employees
they
employed
and
put
into
senior
leadership
posi7ons,
was
also
looked
at
as
a
possible
solu7on
for
US
companies.
Cita7ons
&
Addi7onal
Resources
Cindy
A
Schipani.
American
Business
Women
Networking
presenta7on.
Winter
2015
Harvard
Business
Review.
Web
Link:
hKps://hbr.org/2010/09/why-­‐men-­‐s7ll-­‐get-­‐more-­‐promo7ons-­‐than-­‐women
The
Role
of
Networks,
Mentors,
and
The
Law
In
Overcoming
Barriers
To
OrganizaHonal
Leadership
For
Women
With
Children.
Michigan
Journal
of
Gender
&
Law.
Cindy
A
Schipani.
Pg84.–
86
Women’s
Economic
Engagement
Around
the
Globe.
Web
Link:
hKps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5wRMaEmf6c
Objec7ves
The
aim
of
the
study
was
to
analyze
data
from
a
number
of
previously
executed
entrepreneurial
and
corporate
reports,
and
then
to
in
turn
come
up
with
possible
solu7ons
to
aid
in
women
aKemp7ng
to
break
into
the
senior
most
management
posi7ons
at
major
organiza7ons
across
America.
Due
to
European
women
experiencing
the
same
types
of
barriers
modern
day
American
businesswomen
are
facing,
we
also
decided
to
include
them
in
the
current
study.
Previous
research
on
the
selected
topic
has
not
yet
explored
how
the
law
may
be
able
to
solve
the
issue
at
hand,
and
how
policies
and
goals
imposed
by
the
government
may
help
companies
benefit
from
broadening
their
board
room
demographics;
hence
the
birth
of
the
current
study.
Results
When
discovering
why
and
how
males
held
more
senior
organiza7onal
leadership
posi7ons,
mentoring
and
networking
rose
as
the
most
plausible
answer.
The
exis7ng
literature
discusses
mentoring
as
an
intense
reciprocal
interpersonal
exchange
between
a
senior
more
experienced
individual
and
a
less
experienced
individual
[the
mentee]
for
guidance,
counsel,
and
support.
Networking
on
the
other
hand,
is
seen
as
an
alterna7ve
yet
complementary
mechanism
to
mentoring
that
provides
career
and
moral
support,
advice,
and
personal
and
interpersonal
resources
that
aid
in
an
individuals
career
progression.
A
Harvard
Business
Review
study
found
that
“Women
who
had
found
mentors
through
formal
programs
had
received
more
promo7ons
by
2010
than
women
who
had
found
mentors
on
their
own
(by
a
ra7o
of
almost
three
to
two).”
It
was
also
found
that
female
managers
are
missing
out
on
global
opportuni7es
because
they
lack
mentors
and
access
to
the
networks
available
to
their
male
counterparts.
The
review
of
the
literature
also
reveals
that
women
in
business
have
historically
lacked
access
to
social
capital,
which
in
part,
is
due
to
domes7c
commitments,
lack
of
childcare,
lack
of
mentors,
and
various
aqtudinal
barriers.
Maternity
leave
was
also
found
to
play
a
roll
in
the
success
of
mentor
rela7onships
and
career
success
because
it
forces
women
to
leave
their
current
job
situa7ons
and
social
networks.
In
a
study
done
gauging
women’s
economic
opportuni7es
and
success
around
the
world,
the
U.S.
was
ranked
15th
out
of
113
countries,
which
is
in-­‐part
due
to
the
fact
that
there
are
no
mandatory
maternity
leave
rights
for
women
in
the
US.
The
same
study
also
pointed
out
that
out
of
the
113
countries
that
data
was
gathered
from
The
U.S.
was
the
only
country
not
have
these
mandatory
maternity
leave
rights.
Various
assump7ons
about
women’s
lack
of
commit
to
the
workplace
is
also
made-­‐whether
its
due
to
the
fact
peers
believe
women
have
stronger
7es
to
family,
or
child
rearing
prac7ces,
lack
of
cultural
fit,
etc.
However,
these
biases
effec7vely
exclude
women
from
informal
networks
and
present
a
barrier
to
most
women’s
career
advancement
into
top
leadership
posi7ons.
“This
is
important
because
of
what
it
signals
–
associa7on
with
strong
mentors
and
important
networks
signal
commitment,
but
without
that,
women
are
losing
out
on
an
important
pathway
to
move
up
into
posi7ons
of
organiza7onal
leadership.”
The
literature
also
indicates
that
inves7ng
in
male
networks
is
important
to
women,
due
to
the
fact
that
male
networks
tend
to
have
more
power
and
by
connec7ng
with
these
groups,
women
are
signaling
they
are
capable
of
more
professional
roles.
The
interna7onally
distributed
survey
my
research
advisor
had
previously
worked
on
had
found
that
62%
percent
of
the
respondents
believed
they
had
benefited
from
being
part
of
a
network,
75
%
were
sa7sfied
with
the
mentoring
they
had
received
in
their
careers,
and
72%
had
themselves
been
a
mentor
for
someone
else.
Both
U.S.
and
interna7onal
respondents
found
that
networks/mentors
were
important
to
increasing
their
aspira7onal
career
goals
or
providing
role
models.
However
the
data
collected
from
the
survey
did
indicate
that
there
were
interna7onal
differences
between
the
U.S.
and
other
respondents
regarding
the
benefits
of
a
specific
mentor.
Individuals
from
the
U.S.
indicated
that
mentors
first
and
foremost
provided
role
and
aspira7onal
models,
followed
by
direct
sponsorship
and
exposure
to
others
who
could
advance
their
careers.
For
respondents
outside
of
the
U.S.
mentors
were
most
beneficial
for
providing
direct
career
planning
advice,
coaching
and
occupa7onal
guidance;
this
was
then
followed
by
their
importance
of
role
models.
The
most
interes7ng
difference
between
the
two
sets
of
respondents,
those
from
the
U.S.
and
interna7onal
individuals,
was
that
those
respondents
from
outside
the
U.S.
did
not
seem
to
be
working
with
mentors
who
could
increase
their
exposure
and
visibility
to
superiors
within
the
workforce.
In
addi7on,
we
know
from
the
addi7onal
research
on
mentoring
that
mentors
can
increase
the
benefits
and
decrease
the
challenges
of
social
networks
within
the
workplace
as
well
as
provide
career
and
psychosocial
support.
Conclusion
Although
more
and
more
research
is
being
conducted
on
gender
inequality
issues
within
the
workplace
very
few
companies
have
used
this
knowledge
to
correct
the
problem
at
hand.
European
countries
however,
have
taken
this
into
considera7on
and
began
countrywide
government
ini7a7ves
using
quota
systems
that
have
increased
female
senior
management
numbers
and
incen7vized
companies
to
hire
a
more
diverse
range
of
employees.
These
businesses
taking
part
in
the
quota
system
have
seen
an
increase
in
company
growth,
revenues,
and
much
more
due
to
having
a
diversified
leadership
board.
Unfortunately
it
is
not
legal
to
set
quotas
for
US
companies
to
hire
a
certain
percentage
of
individuals
like
it
is
in
Europe,
due
to
affirma7ve
ac7on,
so
another
legal
remedy
should
be
considered.
For
the
current
7me
being
however,
mentoring
and
networking
programs
seem
to
be
the
course
of
ac7on
with
the
most
posi7ve
results
–
and
not
just
for
women
either.
The
research
also
suggests
that
those
networks
and
mentors
who
are
made
through
formal
company
programs
and
ini7a7ves
are
the
most
posi7ve
and
produc7ve,
therefore
sugges7ng
that
many
US
companies
should
begin
taking
part
in
these
types
of
ac7vi7es
in
order
to
boost
female
execu7ve
numbers.
Having
a
greater
number
of
qualified
female
execu7ves
within
Americas
boardrooms
will
not
only
allow
companies
to
experience
mul7ple
types
of
growth,
but
will
also
enhance
Americas
white
collar
culture
and
provide
a
place
for
individuals
of
any
sex
to
feel
comfortable
while
reaching
their
occupa7onal
goals.